Off to the Emerald Isle

Well my lovelies this is going to be my last post for over a week as I'm heading off for a family holiday to Ireland tomorrow and hopefully be able to fit in a bit of bargain hunting while I'm over there!

As I wont be car booting for two weeks I had to sneak off this morning when I should have been packing to the Saturday booty just so I could get my fix.  It was quite disappointing, the same old trader stalls selling over priced children's toys and dodgy tracksuits.  I was thinking that it was going to be the first boot sale I left empty handed until I spotted these:

Love these shelves - they are coated in varnish so I'm going to have to put the dreaded sander to work again but I've got a feeling these are going to be fabulous shabby chic'd up :o)  I paid £6 for the pair which was more than fair as seen some of these in the charity shops with ridiculous price tags.
I've also found a couple of things in the charity shop which I thought I'd throw in for good measure:

 Victorian Vignettes and Illustrations book full of lovelies which I'm going to get my craft on with - £2.

I also bought these fabulous little women's Institute books:

Full of handy little tips and humorous quotes, two of my favourites being in the washing section:

 "I think if you've got a T-shirt with a bloodstain all over it, maybe laundry isn't your biggest problem. Maybe you should get rid of the body before you do the wash" - Jerry Seinfield.

"Automatic washing Machines: please remove your clothes when the light goes out" - Sign in a laundromat.

Right I better get back to the packing, don't miss me too much *wink*, I'll be catching up on all your blogs when I get back :o)

Scarlett x

Bootsale Sunday again

What a day yesterday - started off horribly when I discovered some little ******* had ripped the windscreen wipers off of my car - they had broken off the arms and all. There was no parking outside the house so I had parked a bit down the road and that's what happens!  The air was definitely blue yesterday morning, the police took a statement but nothing they can do - great hey!

But I still made sure I got to the boot sale :o)  It wasn't as busy as usual, not sure if the Easter school holidays are the cause but it was a lot less chaotic.  So here's my finds:

Pink Meakin Glamour Rosa Jug - 20p!

Vintage Martini fabric table/bar mats - 50p

Beautiful vintage cushion cover - 50p

1950s 'Skyline' Whisk - wanted a vintage hand whisk for a while now so pleased to get this one for 20p!  Moulinex Mouli-Herb chopper in orginal box - 30p :o)

Leather granny purse with wrist strap - 50p

Vintage vanity case - 50p

More Pirate bunting for the little mans birthday party - 50p

Sweet little espresso set on its own stand - love these although I don't drink coffee so these are just there to look pretty - £1.50.

Men's 1970's shirts - all for a punt on Ebay - £1 each.

Kitsch big-eyed Deer - 50p from a very sweet little old lady, been wanting one like this for ages too - result!

And in the name of shabby chic - a little shelf with draw - 50p.  This is a definite project piece which is going to be sanded and painted within an inch of its life, also need to find a draw knob :o)

I also need to say a HUGE thank you to Kylie Lucy violet vintage who sent me this beautiful ballerina hair brush which I loved so much on her blog:

I love love love it and its now pride of place on my dressing table - sorry the photos don't do it justice Kylie.

Now for this weeks installment of

Witnessed at a Bootsale

Lady in front of me talking to her friend : "I don't know why those foreign people think they have to knock the price down when they know they are getting a bargain"
Friend: "I know its so cheeky"
They stop at the next stall
Lady "How much for the skirt Love?"
Stallholder : "£2 its silk"
Lady: "oh no I'll give you £1"....

Stallholder: "Freshly baked cupcakes £1 each"
Customer: "Were you up baking them this morning?"
Stallholder: "No I made them yesterday morning"

I also saw a young guy sorting through a pile of clothes on a lady's stall, he then grabbed a bin bag and tipped the contents out to have a look and a huge pile of tiny thongs and bras went flying out on top of the pile of clothes. Both the stallholder and the young man looked embarrassed. I was just thinking who on earth wants to buy this lady's old thongs - eugh! (Maybe the fetish market is big on the bootsale scene lol).

Thats all for the boot sale booty!

Scarlett x

Linking to magpie-monday, flea-market-finds , thrift-share-monday and nifty-thrifty-tuesdays

Weekend Finds

What a busy weekend I've had in the search of bargains, a table top sale, a fair and a boot sale.  I'm going to share the booty finds first and save the others for another day  As it was mothers day yesterday my mum joined me on the boot sale scrum down, which was somewhat of an eye opener to her as she hasn't been to a boot sale for years. These are my latest house guests:

1950's french decanter, not sure if this is for oil or vinegar or another pourable liquid but who cares - I just love the look of it and it was £1!

1950's Puzzles - both for 80p.  The guy who sold them to me told me that these were played with by himself and his brother when they were little. I love that the came from the original owner and not a house clearance or trader stall.

Pyrex jug - probably 1960s or 1970s,  pleased to have got this one for £1.

Little blue glass apothecary jar - bought from a little old lady who told me she kept her cotton wool in it for years.  Bought this little lovely for £1 and a smile.

Poodle tea tray!! lol - how could I leave a tray with two poodles with a calculating look in their eyes! Love it especially as it was 50p.

Vintage curtain fabric, there is about 4 meters of this -  got the lot for £1.

Another wacky buy - cowboy boot beer glass.  Probably would hold half a pint but it made me smile so will probably now be a juice glass - I bought it from a guy raising money for Cancer Research for 50p. He told me that he had raised 4k over the last year for cancer research - what a star!

Pair of 1950s curtains (to use for fabric), they look like they were never used!  Got the pair for £1.50 :o)

These amazing vintage french glass bowls - probably 1950s, bought from a teenager's stall and found nestled among a pile of primark belts and bags, she gave me the 3 for £1! Mucho squealing!

Huge Dorothy Perkins silk scarf - not vintage but amazing anyway and a steal for £1.50, it still has its tag attached.

1970s storage jars - 50p each. I remember my mum had a set of these when I was growing up and she laughed when she saw I had bought a couple.

One for the royal wedding - Sandringham tea tray, ideal for when posh people come to tea *wink*.

A beautiful cream lacquer jewellery box. I did a bit of an Internet research and looks like its probably 1940s/1950s.  It has a small bit of damage to the lid but hey its survived pretty well.  I found this on the Sandringham tray stall and it was in a box in the ladies car so asked if it had been sold and she said she didn't have room to put it out - well hello jewellery box! Snapped  it up for £1.50!!  The best bit is that when you open it up it smells of vintage face powder - not everyones cup of tea I know but I love it.

1950s Beaded purse - 50p!

Vintage face powder compact with mirror - still has original liner :o) Bought this with the beaded purse for 50p also - again much delight and a pay and run moment.

And of course couldn't come home without the usual Pyrex casserole dish - check this one out:

Its a miniature casserole dish! I laughed so much when I saw it, maybe it's the dieters friend.  I've taken a picture by a mug so you can see how small it is:

I'm very tempted to make a tiny casserole in it and give it to hubby for dinner for a laugh.  I got this little gem for 50p :o)

Witnessed at a Boot Sale

The first boot sale funny actually involved me.  As its such a fight at this boot sale I was squeezing past a lady to get through the bottle neck of people when i felt my bag tug.  I've got a Cath Kidston Satchel which I wear across the body, well when I felt the bag tug and heard a lady squeal I turned round to be faced with a very surprised Polish lady with her hand of her butt cheek.  It suddenly sunk in what had happened - the buckle of my satchel had caught on the bum pocket of her jeans giving it a tug, she thought I had grabbed her bum!  I apologised saying my bag had caught her jeans but she just smiled at me and chuckled, looks like I may have come home with a Polish lady as well as my bargains! I quickly made my getaway.

I also saw a stall which was selling autographed sporting memorabilia. A Thai lady was picking up the signed caps and putting them on her sons head:

Stall Holder: "Can you not put those on your son"

Thai Lady grabs another cap and put it on her sons head

Stall Holder: "I said can you not put that on you sons head" snatches the cap from the lady "this is signed by a golf pro and costs £50"

Thai lady: "50p?" she goes to take the cap from his hand

Stall Holder "No £50! You're not going to buy it for £50 are you so leave them alone"

Thai Lady "£50?? No I give you £1"

Stallholder "Are you taking the piss?"

Thai Lady "£1" (At this point I was admiring her haggling technique)

Stallholder: "No its £50!" Stall holder then takes the cap and puts it in his car.

Thai Lady : "How much for these two" picking up 2 more caps.

Stallholder: "They are not for sale..."

The last thing that happened was me again, there was a crowd around a new table so I peered in and saw a vintage Kelly style bag - I picked it up and then suddenly got my hand slapped by the lady next to me "Mine" she barked! First time since I was 5 year old that I've had my hand slapped! lol.

Happy Monday all.

Scarlett x

 Make sure you all check out Bee Happy 100th Follower giveaway :o) too and my giveaway is still running, check it out here.

Linking to thrift share Monday , magpie-monday and newbie-party

 

Fresh Donations you say?

My little boy was in refusing to nap yesterday afternoon so I used the winning technique of power walking with the pushchair - hasn't let me down yet.  Needless to say I would have been rude of me not to pop into the 'secret' charity shop, I hadn't been in there for over a week so I'm sure they were missing me *wink*.

Well I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw another shopper in there!  Its the first time ever that I hadn't had free run of the shop (previously a classroom).  The other shopper was wearing a full on faux fur coat (Cruella de Vil style) and had immaculate hair and make-up, she also looked bemused as to how she had ended up in a charity shop and was fingering the goods very suspiciously.  All became clear when a little girl ran in full dance gear and the women asked if she had enjoyed the dance lesson. Phew!! I didn't have bargain hunting competition and no stuffed puppies were going to be hurt in the shop, she just took a wrong turn collecting the girl from dance class. Diva strop avoided and no need to bellow "Who is she!!!" lol.  One swish of the coat and they left, I doubt I'll be seeing her in the again, she will however have an amusing tale for her next dinner party or soiree.

So I was alone and no longer had to be on my best behaviour, let the rummage commence!  First finding was would you believe it, another picnic hamper:

Slightly smaller than my other one but still just as lovely.  The inside again had the token naff plastic cutlery but I was going up in the hamper world as this one had patterned plastic mugs, green cutlery and a plastic check table cloth -ooooooooh! haha.

 I think picnic hampers might be the new bedspreads - I'll now be seeing them everywhere.  This little set cost me a whole £3 - and yes it was the most expensive item in the shop ;o)

The shop manager then bought in some bags of donated goods that she was going to put out, she asked if i wanted to check them out - well hello there!  Yes it did also cross my mind as to what horrors I may  encounter but it was a risk worth taking.

I found this Price's Candles advertising dish:

Made by Lord Nelson Pottery and because I was pulling items out the bag the manager was making the prices up as she went along- she gave me this for 10p *grin*.

I then found this rug beater:

Its an ideal stress buster, I can now go out in the garden with my rugs and beat the hell of out them lol.  This cost 50p and will be worth every penny, better warn the neighbours that a crazy woman welding a charity shop bargain will be seen in the garden.

I then found a couple of beauties, two vintage ladies hats:

The emerald green one has no makers label but the blue one has a very old Bermona London label.  The manager gave me a strange look when I said they were fabulous and she said I could have them for 50p each!!  I nearly squealed but I kept my composure, but mucho inner squealing was done!

I also found a bag full of craft and sewing magazines:

I got 20 of them and she said I could have them for 10p a magazine. £2 paid and I've got about a couple of months worth of magazine reading to do.

So the walk home was interesting pushing a baby with a wicker hamper and a rug beater over my shoulder, Mary Poppins move over, i looked like the hard-ass version! 

Now before I leave this blog post I need to mention that Lakota - faith hope and charity shopping is having an amazing give-away and in the my plight to rescue Saint Cath go and check it out :o)

Scarlett x

Linking to thrilling-thursday and thrifty-thursdays

The law of 'The Haggle'.

Saturday and the sun is out so thought I'd check out the new Saturday morning boot sale near where I live as am not going to be booting tomorrow :o(.  Well when I got there I thought I'd mistakenly walked onto the set of the Antiques Roadshow - every stall was full of collectables and all set out like an antiques fair, I did check the sign and it was definitely meant to be a carboot sale!  Along with the dealers came antique style pricing so I wasn't optimistic on finding a bargain even though there were so lovely things.

The turn out wasn't great and by the second to last stall I still hadn't bought anything, but the last two stalls came in lucky for me.  I found this little set of pink polka dot:

As you all know I love my jugs (sorry couldnt resist!) so to get two in a lot was magic!

The stall holder wanted £5 for the lot, now being a child of a boot sale addict (thanks Dad) I was told to not take the first price and always have a go at the haggle. I don't always follow this rule if for example the first price is ridiculously low anyway and I just want to get the item in my bag lol. On this instance however I thought there was room for the haggle, not wanting to be tight I offered £4 which I thought was reasonable as dear old dad would have gone it at least 50% haha.  Well the man on the stall had to confer with his wife regarding this small £1 discount - she was tight lipped and said no - not even coming in with a counter offer, so being a stubborn Scorpio I decided to leave it (a trick learned in my time in Thailand).  I walked to the next stall and started looking at the goods where by the guy rushed over and said yes they would take £4  :o) The Thailand trick remains infallible *wink*. Well I popped the items pretty quick into my bag before she had time to change her mind.  When I got home I looked at the bottom of the large jug:

£19.99 just for the jug! No wonder she thought she could get more lol.

The final stall was run by a fabulous Irish man who informed me that all his goods 'had been stolen from Windsor Castle the night before' so I had better snap them up before the old bill came and got him, haha. He had a pile of bedding which I thought I'd had a rummage through,  I found:

Yellow rose valance sheet for double bed.

Floral shabby chic style double duvet cover (with valance trim).

Vintage floral pillow case (sorry for all the creases - taken all these straight out of bag to photo before washing).

Vintage hand embroidered cushion cover.

One vintage lace glove (couldn't find the other one lol)

A pair of huge floral lined curtains which are beautiful (shame the pictures do not do these justice).

And the best of the lot:

A huge vintage Italian peacock scarf.  I couldn't believe it when I found this at the bottom of the fabric pile!

All these were from the Irishman's stall and guess how much I paid for the lot.... £5!!  I would have easily have paid more than that for the scarf or curtains alone but for the whole bundle that was unbelievable.  As you can guess this wasn't the time for a haggle haha.

So my weekend is complete on the bargain front and I don't feel so bad missing out on the boot sale tomorrow :o)

Happy weekend my lovelies.

Scarlett x

Linking to: bees-knees-linky-party